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"Links-Up also allows us as school counselors with ratios of 600 to one to provide more guidance
opportunities. The mentors help alleviate some of the over burden in our schedules by taking
these groups and visiting with these youngsters. I would highly recommend this program to all
elementary school counselors because of the connections they make with the students and because
it is also part of a good school counselor’s responsibility to collaborate with the community.
I am hoping and praying that Links-Up is available as long as I remain a school counselor."
Lynn E. Wasylenko, SC Chalkville Elementary School
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Links-up Mentoring is a program in which college students are recruited and trained to work in pairs as mentors to groups of youth in elementary and middle schools in the Birmingham area. Teachers and school counselors select students for mentor groups based on the group's need for increased awareness and improvement on a variety of issues. Topics discussed in the mentor groups typically include issues related to self-esteem, teamwork, bullying, conflict resolution, decision making, social development and family. Mentors assist in the child's growth and development by empowering them with the knowledge to make wise decisions.
Mentors also provide warmth, empathy, encouragement and consistency - important elements necessary for positive growth and achievement. Once volunteer mentors have applied, are accepted into the mentoring program and have completed extensive initial training they are "linked-up" with one other volunteer mentor and placed with a school's mentor group. They will then work with a small group of students that will meet for approximately one hour per week during school hours. Volunteers are provided with a variety of age-appropriate lesson plans and activities to use within their groups. These lesson plans cover topics such as self-esteem, anger management and dealing with feelings.
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Program Goals:
- Offer a warm, accepting atmosphere in which children feel free to verbalize the problems they are having with family, school, and peer relationships.
- Help children explore their feelings, both positive and negative, and to learn more appropriate ways of handling these feelings.
- Help children learn to cope more effectively with the frustrations in their environment by teaching alternative, appropriate methods of behavior.
- Help children achieve a better understanding of themselves, as well as others, through self-exploration exercises, value clarification exercises, and group discussions.
- Increase children’s positive interactions with their environment by teaching alternative, appropriate methods of behavior.
- Provide confidence building and motivation exercises through small group experiences and to assist children in developing positive self-concepts, attitudes, and appropriate behavior.
- Provide an educational opportunity for interested individuals (e.g. college students to participate in the program, become trained, receive hands-on practicum experience, and be directly exposed to the needs of the community.
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Program Information:
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Get Involved!
Volunteers are always welcome at Camp Fire!
Volunteers must complete a volunteer application, which includes requests for two personal references, copies of the student’s driver’s license and proof of insurance. In addition, the volunteer consents to two background checks through the Department of Human Resources and Mentor Alabama. Once an applicant’s references are verified and he or she has passed the background checks and is deemed a suitable candidate for volunteering, a program coordinator will assign them a partner and a school site. Students are asked to commit to one full semester or no fewer than six group sessions. Once volunteers begin their groups, they must attend ongoing volunteer trainings (see pop-up text below) each week, making the Links-Up Mentoring Program a two to three (2 to 3) hour per week commitment.
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To learn more, request information, become a Links - Up Mentor or speak to a representative,
please contact:
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http://www.campfire-al.org/images/stories/links-up_mentoring_volunteer_application.pdf
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